Wind-whipped worlds can’t stop 10K WR by W80 Frenchwoman
Denise holds golds from 2011.
Ruthlyn Greenfield-Webster shows colors after winning gold in W40 triple.
Melanie Reske dies at 92; Oregon star set weight-throw records
Melanie in 2006 newspaper story.
Perkins re-elected WMA president in landslide over Rex Harvey
Stan Perkins
Waiting for results of WMA election; candidate forum worthless
WMA elections for president and others were today in Porto Alegre, and I’m still waiting on results. In the meantime, see how WMA handled its candidates forum. The following is from Masters Mole 2355c: “Monday evening’s WMA Candidate Forum began at 18:00 pm in a building with lots of background noise that made it extremely hard to hear the candidates even with a loudspeaker. Each WMA candidate was given five minutes to talk and then there were two minutes for questions from the audience. There seemed to be about 70-80 in attendance, but not many athletes. Winston Thomas, the current WMA secretary was asked if he thought the election voting in Lahti, Finland in 2009 was fair and by the rules. His response was that it was not a proper question and that the minutes of the 2009 meeting had been adopted in 2011. He did not answer the question. Brian Keaveney, Vice-President of Non-Stadia, and the timekeeper, then stood up and said that he would not allow any ïnappropriate” questions of the candidates.”
U.S. delegation at Lahti worlds in 2009 included (from left) Carroll DeWeese, Gary Snyder and Jerry Donley.
Latest Kay vs. Upshaw showdown goes to the wire in rare 200 tie
Step aside, Bannister vs. Landy. Australia’s Marie Kay and American Joy Upshaw are the current Queens of Track Rivalry. So closely matched in the long jump and sprints, they require a high-speed camera to separate them. So it was in Tuesday’s W50 final in the 200, where both clocked 26.41 (with an illegal wind). And both were given gold (correction from earlier post). Earlier in the meet, Joy beat Marie in the 100 (13.24 to 13.36) but lost to Marie in the long jump (5.13 to 5.11, or 16-10 to 16-9 1/4). The deuce also saw two stunning WRs.
Doug Smith’s photo of blanket finish of W50 200 final shows (from left) Elizabeth Wilson of New Zealand, Joy and Marie.
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World record falls in M85 800 (but not in the W70 200 hurdles)
Porto Alegre results are a royal pain! Apparently they’ve been updating a single file with each day’s results — leading to confusion over what’s new and old. On top of this, the Hy-Tek software they’re using has outdated records. Witness the W70 200-meter hurdles. The listed WMA record is 39.26 by Japan’s Noriko Nakamura at Lahti worlds in 2009, but the Porto Alegre results show a “WMA record” of 54.06. This apparently is a reference to the old 300 hurdles record for that age group. So ignore the supposed WR of 39.50 by South Africa’s Magdale Tomlinson in Monday’s final. However, Brazil’s Francisco Oliveira notched a WR in the M85 800 with his brilliant 3:17.45, beating the listed WR of 3:21.23 by Japan’s Yoshimitsu Miyauchi in 2009. Age-graded, the mark is equivalent to an open 1:41.86! In any case, here are results for women as of Monday. And here are results for men as of Monday.
Rain drenches Monday’s W35 400-meter hurdles final, won by Chile’s Tatiana Bravo (right) in 1:13.53. Venezuela’s Yulmis Sabariego (left) took silver.
Christa Happ dies at 83; German legend set WRs in vault, HJ, LJ
German superstar Christa Happ, known to her friends as Christel, died Oct. 11 at age 83, only a few years after setting W80 world indoor and outdoor records in the high jump and pole vault (and also long jump outdoors). She competed as recently as January 2013. Cause of death is still unknown to me. She was followed by Berlin filmmaker Jan Tenhaven for his documentary “Autumn Gold” but her story didn’t make the final cut. She was close to several Americans, including German-born Christel Donley, who shared the funeral information notice. Services are set Oct. 25 in the German town of Gernrode. Happ also was world-ranked in the sprints and throws.
Christa competed in many events and won many major titles since her 70s.
Hundreds of Porto Alegre images being posted on Flickr account
Flickr is fantastic for displaying images, and someone with the Porto Alegre LOC is posting great storytelling shots of the world meet. See the main gallery. I don’t see photo credits off the bat, but I’d like to thank the shooter for exploring the whole spectacle. The one below is among my favorites, showing 95-year-old Efrain Wachs (left) and Argentine sprinter buddy 99-year-old Jose Lore Escobar, apparently after their 100-meter dash. (They won silver and bronze.) Doug Smith of Canada, a steeplechaser a stellar photographer, will share his images as well.
The essence of masters track — relaxing with a friend after hard-fought race.
Brazilian claims M85 world record in 100 as Americans take 9 golds
Saturday was Speed Day at Porto Alegre worlds with finals held in the 100-meter dashes. See results here. Completing his comeback from a 2009 doping suspension, Val Barnwell won M55 in 11.90 as fellow Americans Tom Jones and Ken Thomas took third and fourth. Other Yanks taking gold were W35 Brandi Bernert (12.23), W50 Joy Upshaw (13.24), W65 Phil Raschker (15.06), M35 Babatunde “Tunde” Ridley of San Diego (10.66), M40 Tod Long (11.04), M65 Charles Allie (12.55), M70 Steve Robbins (13.16) and M75 Bob Lida (13.75), who won by more than a second. M85 Yoshiyuki Shimizu of Brazil set a world record with his stunning 15.97, beating the listed WR of 16.16 by Japan’s Suda Giichi in 1998. (Yes, Yoshiyuki is Brazilian.) And 15.97 is worth 10.09 on the Age-Graded Tables.
Tunde Ridley, shown in Porto Alegre, won his first world masters title in 100.
World records set in heptathlon, shot, sprint heats at Porto Alegre
Karla indoors a few years ago.
